Many people who feel they are prepared to enter the real estate market by purchasing their first home have experienced a roadblock to good mortgage rates – their credit cards. Credit cards can play a positive, but also a negative role in the process of purchasing a home.

There is not a doubt that having a credit card can work highly in your favor when it comes time to shop around for your first home. If you have a consistent history of timely credit card payments this builds a strong credit rating. Having a high credit score not only will secure you a mortgage quickly, but one with very competitive rates.

Your credit card can be very influential when determining what mortgage you are seeking because the credit card payments are added to what the payments ‘would be’ on a possible mortgage to determine how much can be afforded.Continue Reading

For many of us who are mortgage holders from time-to-time we find ourselves asking, “When is a good time to refinance my mortgage?” Hardly a day goes by without noticing many lenders advertising tempting deals to entice you to refinance your mortgage. That temptation to refinance can be huge because depending on your situation, refinancing your mortgage can be beneficial in areas such as reducing the interest rate, shortening or extending the mortgage loan, and even by getting some extra cash flow happening by lowering the monthly mortgage payments. A word to the wise though, refinancing must be done with great caution because not every situation can have the desired benefits.Continue Reading

Amidst all the negativity that sometimes shrouds credit cards there is some amazing news. For the first time in a decade, bank card delinquencies dipped below the 15-year average. Earlier this month, the American Bankers Association (ABA) released a report announcing this good news.

According to the ABA’s report, credit card consumers overall have done a better job in meeting their debt obligations in the fourth quarter of 2010. They indicate that this may be attributed to a slowly improving economy which allows consumers to better manage their debt. Another contributing factor is that for the first time in two years, over 200,000 jobs were created; therefore the unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent.Continue Reading

First of all, if you are in college right now, please do everything in your power to keep your student loans to a minimum! I really wish that I didn’t have to experience the story below. Never having that debt would have been much more delightful, for me anyway.

My wife and I had recently gotten married and moved into an amazing rental complex in South Florida. There was a work-out facility, some tennis courts, and a gorgeous pool. It was heavenly, that is, until the bills started coming in the mail.

Somehow it had slipped our minds that once we graduated from college, we had to start paying back our student loans. Between my wife and I, we had $18,000 in student loans plus a vehicle that we owed $7,000 on. Yep, that was a total of $25,000 in debts!Continue Reading

Peer to peer (P2P) lending has been gaining in popularity — especially since the recession began. Part of the reason for this is due to the difficulty associated with getting loans from banks. Another issue is that traditional banks, in some cases, charge higher interest rates. If you are looking for a way to get a loan, in some circumstances it might make sense to turn to P2P lending.

Bankruptcy is pretty much a last ditch effort to help save your financial situation (and perhaps your overall health and life). The hope is that no one will ever need to know about bankruptcy but the truth is over a million and a half people in 2010 will file for personal bankruptcy.Continue Reading

Prosper.com is a personal loan and investing site with over one million members and over two hundred fifteen million dollars in personal loans funded since 2006. Using a unique person to person lending model, prosper.com connects borrowers and lenders and allows them to establish a mutually beneficial financial relationship. Prosper offers borrowers rates as low as 5.9% and lender returns as high as 10.1% (this varies, of course based on your borrowing and lending situation).

Disclaimer

Free From Broke is for general information or entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice. Be smart and do your own research or contact an independent financial professional for advice regarding your specific situation.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that we have a financial relationship with companies mentioned in this website. This may include receiving access to free products and services for product and service reviews and giveaways.